Description of three new species of fishes from middle America

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FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM

PUBLICATION 116.
ZOOLOGICAL SERIES. VOL. VII, No. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THREE NEW SPECIES

OF FISHES FROM MIDDLE

AMERICA

BY

SETH EUGENE MEEK,

Assistant Curator of Department.

CHARLES B. CORY,

Curator of Department.

CHICAGO, U. S. A.
July, 1906.

DESCRIPTION OF THREE NEW SPECIES OF FISHES FROM
MIDDLE AMERICA.

BY SETH EUGENE MEEK.

In a collection of fishes recently made by me in Guatemala, I
find several specimens of Cichlasoma trimaculatum (Gthr.). Com-
paring these with the specimens from Achotal, Mexico, which I
listed as belonging to this species, I find the latter to be a different
species and one undescribed. In the following paper it and two
new species of fishes from Guatemala are described.

Family Siluridee.

Rhamdia cabrerae sp. nov.

Type No. 5500, Amatitlan, Guatemala. Total length, 136 mm.

Head, 4.61; depth, 5.30; D. i, 7; A. u. Body elongate, robust,
compressed posteriorly ; head somewhat depressed ; narrowed forward ;
upper jaw the longer; maxillary barbels reaching to or slightly past
base of pectorals; outer mandibidular barbels barely reaching gill
openings; eye small, 5 in head, slightly before middle of the head;
snout 2.70 in head; interorbital 2.75; head covered with soft skin;
fontanelle extending to base of occipital process ; the bridge at posterior
margin of orbits; occipital process very short; humeral process small,
not reaching beyond third of pectoral spine ; pectoral spine strong not
pungent, its inner margin serrate, its length 2.40 in head; dorsal
spine weak; height of dorsal fin 1.40 in head, its length 1.95 ; last dorsal
ray slightly in advance of base of ventrals; base of pectoral to base
of ventral 3.60 in body; snout to base of dorsal 3.20 in body; adipose
fin 3.50 in body; base of anal 1.50 in head; caudal fin short, the lower
lobe the larger; least depth of caudal peduncle 1.60 in head.

Color, dark brownish, ventral region silvery, no lateral band, fins
dark, no distinct band on middle of dorsal.

This fish apparently does not grow large. The largest seen by me
was 1 60 mm. in length. Collected by S. E. Meek.

Named for Sefior Don Manuel Estrada Cabrera, President of the
Republic of Guatemala, whose interest in the study of the fishes
of Lake Amatitlan led to its discovery.

93

94 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM — ZOOLOGY, VOL. VII

Family Cichlidae.

Cichlasoma centrale sp. nov.

Type No. 5510, Caballo Blanco, Guatemala. Total length, 103
mm.

Head 2.61; depth 2.34; D. XVI, n; A. VII, 8; scales 6-32-11.
Body elongate, rather robust, the dorsal region not much elevated,
the profile nearly a straight line; mouth rather large, the lower jaw
the longer; the two anterior teeth of upper jaw much larger than the
others ; anterior pair of teeth of lower jaw small, the next pair on each
side canine-like; maxillary reaching vertical from anterior margin
of orbit, its length 3 in head; preorbital 5.76; postorbital 2.25;
diameter of eye 3.66; mandible 2.14; lower lip without frenum;
cheeks with 6 rows of scales; longest dorsal spine 2.72 in head; longest
anal spine 2.50; least depth of caudal peduncle 2.54; pectoral fin
scarcely reaching first anal spine, its length 1.45 in head; tips of
ventral reaching to base of first anal spine, length 1.48 ; tips of ventrals
and middle dorsal rays not produced ; caudal fin rounded.

Color, dark olivaceous ; sides with 7 faint vertical bars ; a black
spot on middle of each of last four bars. A black ocellated spot on
upper half of base of caudal fin; no dark lateral band; a black' spot
on shoulder just above anterior end of lateral line ; a few faint brownish
spots on base of soft dorsal and anal.

This species bears some resemblance to Cichlasoma trimaculatum
(Gthr.). It is more slender, has lower dorsal and anal fins, and shorter
ventrals. The tips of the ventrals in a specimen of C. trimaculatum
(Gthr.) 97 mm. in length reach to base of 4th anal spine. Collected
by S. E. Meek.

Cichlasoma tenue sp. nov.

Type No. 3781, Achotal, Vera Cruz, Mexico. Total length 95 mm.

Head 2.48; depth 2.45; D. XVI or XVII, 9 or 10; A. VI or VI, 7.
Body elongate not robust, dorsal region not elevated, the profile
nearly straight, mouth rather large, the lower jaw the longer; the
anterior pair of teeth of upper jaw enlarged; the anterior pair of
lower jaw small, the next pair on each side canine-like; lips thick,
the lower without frenum; maxillary reaching vertical from anterior
margin of eye, its length 2.95 in head; preorbital 6.10; postorbital
2.20; eye 3.45; mandible 2.14; cheeks with 5 rows of scales; longest
dorsal spine 2.65; longest anal spine 2.50; least depth of caudal
2.65; pectoral fin reaching first anal spine, length 1.46 in head; tips

JULY, 1906. CATALOGUE OF BERMUDA FISHES — MEEK. 95

of ventrals reaching base of 4th anal spine, 1.35 in head; tips of
ventrals and dorsal and anal fins produced in filaments; caudal fin
rounded.

Color, light olivaceous, sides with 7 obscure dark bars; a black
humeral spot, a more or less ocellated spot on upper half of base of
caudal; a faint dark blotch usually on middle of last 4 bars, the one
on 4th bar prominent ; no spots on vertical fin.

In a former paper* I identified these specimens as Cichlasoma
trimaculatum (Gthr.). Since then I have obtained specimens of
that species from Caballo Blanco, Guatemala, and find it a much
deeper fish than the one here described. In the Museum are six
specimens of this species ranging in length from 47 mm. to .104 mm.
Collected by Heller and Barber.

* Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 1905, 245.

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